Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday that he was "disgusted" by the presence of a controversial Iranian prosecutor at the inauguration of the newly founded UN Human Rights Council. Mr. MacKay said the Iranian government sent General Prosecutor for Tehran Saeed Motrazavi as part of its delegations to the inauguration of the international rights council on Monday as an attempt to discredit the newly formed international body.Mr. Motrazavi was found by two Iranian government investigations to have ordered the arrest of Zahra Kazemi in 2003, where she was tortured, raped, and eventually died as of a result of a beating while in custody. Mr. Motrazavi, who was also found to have falsified documents to cover up his involvement in her case, has also been involved in the harsh clampdown on the Iranian press and the arrests of many Iranian journalists, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. "The presence of Mr. Mortazavi in Iran's delegation demonstrates the Government of Iran's complete contempt for internationally recognized principles of human rights," Mr. MacKay said. "The Government of Canada expresses its disgust at the fact that Iran would choose to include such a person in its delegation to a new UN body intended to promote the highest standards of respect for human rights."
The United Nations inaugurated its new Human Rights Council on Monday. The 47-member council replaces the Human Rights Commission, which was discredited after several countries escaped condemnation for rights abuses. Several of the countries on the old commission accused of rights violations did not seek seats on the new council, including Sudan, Syria, and Zimbabwe, among others.